They’re a free-swinging team, if you will. And just like with individual hitters, any team that’s basically banking on contact skills to thrive is going to be subject to the whims of BABIP. There’s really only one way for an offense like Chicago’s to work- with a high BABIP- but frequently popping the ball up basically ensures that won’t happen.

In the end, what you’re left with is an offense that doesn’t challenge the defense nearly enough given that it’s so dependent on putting the ball in play. How could a baseball team possibly put together a worse combination of skill sets? They put the ball into play more than essentially anyone, but so much of that contact is of the weak variety that their BABIP is lower than everyone’s but the Giants. This is like deciding that you’re going to swing for the fences on every pitch when your middle-of-the-order hitters are Darwin Barney, Juan Pierre and Ryan Theriot. …